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Mike, Mac Medic

Category: Mac

Satisfied Customers: 7676

Experience: Over 20 years IT experience with Apple computers in publishing, marketing and design.

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Mac trouble

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HHi..I'm having trouble with my Mac..personal..my own....not networked...I'm running OsX, Version 10.5.8 and I think I have what may be a virus...tried to run my DiskWarior and it's no longer compatible....everything, especially Firefox seems to be running slower than usual and some apps don't work correctly (i.e. in Photoshop, the "Crop" command doesn't work..I have to copy and paste a section of my work into a new PS document....when I'm online, sometimes a black outlined "box" appears over various small sections of the window..and on the left side bar which shows all the apps, right below the trash there is a blinking arrow..do any of these sound like something specific to you?...how to fix?ALSO...forgot...under the Apple menu, under the "Sleep" command, all other commands are duplicated, i.e. "restart" appears twice, as does "shut down" and "log out".

Please go to the Apple logo on the upper left of the screen, go to About This Mac (DO NOT Select More Info), and tell me the Version (under Mac OS X), the Processor and the Memory, it is all right there.

Click on any blank spot on the desktop, then hold Command (the key just to the left of the Spacebar) and Shift keys and hit the letter U, this will open the Utilities folder inside that is an application called Disk Utility. Double click on that and when it opens you will see your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD) on the left. Highlight your hard drive and click on Verify Disk on the right. If that is OK and only if that is OK click on Repair Permissions. If Verify Disk is not OK try to Repair. If Repair is successful then Repair Permissions if it is not successful let me know.

Put the current operating system disk in (the disk that came with your computer unless you have upgraded, in that case use the new system disk) and restart holding down the letter C key until you see the Apple logo. Choose your language then you get to the install screen DO NOT INSTALL, you will see at the top of the screen a Utilities menu drop down. Go the Disk Utility, Highlight your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD) and click on Verify Disk on the right. If that is OK and only if that is OK click on Repair Permissions. If Verify Disk is not OK try to Repair. If Repair is successful then Repair Permissions if it is not successful let me know.

Back home...checked and the message after verifying disk said "The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK."...just checked on "Repair Permissions" which I assume will take a while...after that finishes, should I just reboot?...should that take care of what's going on?...thanks.

No there are literally no viruses for Mac, I would reinstall your system:

Put the current operating system disk (the one that came with your Mac unless you have upgraded) in and restart holding down the letter C key until you see the Apple logo. When you get to the install screen DO NOT INSTALL, you will see at the top of the screen a Utilities menu drop down. Go the Disk Utility, when it opens select your drive on the left and select Verify Disk if OK also repair Permissions. If not OK try to Repair if Repair completes then Repair Permissions. Then quit Disk Utility and then you will see the install screen . Install choosing the option to Archive and Install if you don't have that option just install. Restart and run Software Update until no more updates are available.

Good morning...sorry to bother you again but I ran everything you suggested (remissions, etc) and then reinstalled the system overnigh and did software updates, as suggested...I still have duplicate commands in the Apple menu so something is still funky...any other ideas?

No...just some are duplicating..restart, shut down and log out...will do the Maintenance on the site you sent.FYI, just rememberd that 3 or 4 years ago I had a Spector software version on the Mac...expired a couple of years ago so I haven't used it since then but could the fact that it's still installed make a problem?

OK..I accepted your answer so you could get paid (I have an annual membership here)..but I'm having trouble still..if you could continue to help, I'd apreciate it...I tried to download the printer stuff you suggested 3 times...each time it "failed to mount" and "wasn't recognized by a program"....not sure if it's b/c the name of the file is so long...but I'm getting frustrated b/c I don't have a clue what's going on..if we can work this through some time today, I do tip well...but if you don't know what's happening, I'm not sure where to go with this next...any ideas?

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

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